spray salad dressing

I'm not sure if it's working for me.......it's kind of strange. I thought I would give it a try. There are 10 sprays in a serving, 10 calories per serving and 1 gram of fat.......I need at least 42 sprays on a bowl of salad. Even with 42 sprays, I'm lacking a little flavor here.

I love summer. I love everything about it. I wish it were summer all year long here in Northern Indiana. I love fresh garden vegetables, sun tea, laying in the sun. I love washing my car. I love going to the zoo and the park and running through the sprinkler with my kids.

Speaking of washing my car.....I spent the day outside washing my car on Wednesday. After I finished and took my shower, I realized that my back was sizzled. It's as bright as a tomato. I'm finding it difficult to wear a bra.

I have to tell you about this man at the wallpaper place. It touched me so much I almost cried.

Well, first I need to share the news that I AM going back to school in the fall. As burned out as I've become with the day in and day out of teaching, I find myself needing one more year to keep my pension with the school. In the past, I have desperately wanted to quit teaching for one reason or another, and someone has always ended up doing something to lift my spirits and keep me in the game. A student will give me a little gift, or say something sweet, or a colleague will drop me a note or a card, just when I'm needing it the most. Anyway, I haven't been looking forward to going back in the fall. I love working at the scrapbook store. I love the friends I have made there. I love my schedule, my life, being home with the kids. It's been awesome. I've made great strides with Robby (who has autism) and Adam (who had pneumonia 8 times in 7 months the year before last). Dealing with these things are stressful enough, but having to deal with all of the stress of teaching and then being sick, myself, losing my grandpa, and Doug losing his job, I became incredibly depressed. It was such a relief to take this past year off and just focus on what means the most to me. Family and friends and myself.

ANYWAY....Alice thinks I'm crazy, but I am a firm believer that God gives us each gifts that we are to utilize throughout our lifetime. Alice doesn't know it, but I think her gift is to spread joy to people like me who are down about themselves and their lives. She totally made a difference to me in so many ways! God gave me a gift to connect with kids. I'm not bragging....it's just my gift. I'm an excellent teacher. Really, I rock. Kids feel comfortable in my classroom, around me, and they respect me, so I never have discipline problems, never have to yell, very rarely have problems with kids in general. Sure, there are ones that annoy the holy heck out of me and I'm really glad when they leave my classroom, but the funny thing is, it seems like these kids are the ones that come back five years later to visit me.....I like to think it's because I've made a difference. I get depressed because I don't always feel like I'm touching kids in a way that will affect them later on in their lives. I mean really, how many of you remember your Art Teacher from elementary school??
So, I'm getting off the subject at hand......The wallpaper guy......
I went in to the wallpaper store yesterday to buy some clearance wallpaper to put on my bulletin boards at school. I like it because it doesn't fade. I found some really cute blue wallpaper with red and white paislies on it. Not something ANYONE would put in their house, but definitely the kind of bright that kids love. I took it up to the counter and the guy made a comment about it being bright and fun. I told him what it was for and he looked at me.....with all seriousness......and said "Why??? Why do you teach??" I didn't even hesitate in my answer "I like the kids". He continued ringing me up....asked me some questions about where and what I teach....said he loved art....took it all through school and enjoyed every minute of it. Then he stopped and he looked at me again and he asked me AGAIN...."WHY do you teach?" Again, I said, "I like the kids". He said my total was $6,000. I said, "Hey, I don't have that kind of money, you forget that I'm a TEACHER!" He stopped ringing me up and he handed me the two rolls of wallpaper and he said "Here....because your a TEACHER who likes the kids."

I was sooo taken aback. I couldn't believe he gave me the wallpaper......I mean, each roll was only 5.99, but the kindess in his actions were priceless to me. It wasn't even so much the fact that he gave it to me as the lesson I learned from the entire experience. I TEACH BECAUSE I LIKE THE KIDS. Nothing else matters. I can't help but think that God was giving me a message. He forced me to look inside myself to find the simple answer to why I teach. It's not complicated. Thanks God.